Synopsis

Pat and Barbara MacDonald perform "Life Is Hard" in a compact 1986 music video that matches the song's dry, fatalistic humor. The clip keeps the focus on Timbuk 3 and the track's wry observations, presenting the duo in a straightforward performance setting rather than building an elaborate narrative. Its low-key presentation suits the song's blend of folk, pop, programmed rhythm, and sharply comic commentary on bad luck, money, and the everyday absurdity of trying to get through life.

Factoids & Trivia

• "Life Is Hard" was released in 1986 as the second track on Timbuk 3's debut album, *Greetings from Timbuk3*. Pat MacDonald wrote the song.

• The music video was released in 1986 and runs for roughly four minutes. Pat and Barbara MacDonald are the featured performers.

• The single followed "The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades," Timbuk 3's breakthrough hit. "Life Is Hard" reached No. 35 on the U.S. rock chart.

• MTV listed the video among its active titles in January 1987. It remained in rotation into February, when it was listed at medium rotation.

• The song also appeared in *The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2*, released in 1986, and later in the 1988 film *D.O.A.* Timbuk 3 appeared as a house band in the latter film.

• The track reflects Timbuk 3's unusual working method at the time: Pat and Barbara built their arrangements around guitars, vocals, keyboards, and programmed rhythm parts, giving the duo's music a deliberately homemade but radio-ready character.